Dec. 3, 2004, 12:48AM
By NIKI HERBERT
For two weeks now, the Clear Lake Falcons have talked about making history.
When the Falcons advanced past the second round two weeks ago, they became the first team in school history to do so. The last time Clear Lake had reached the second round was 1999.
The Falcons then talked about going even deeper into the playoffs and did so with a 37-29 triple-overtime victory over Memorial in last week's Class 5A Division II Region III semifinal.
"We've talked about making history here," Clear Lake coach Troy Aduddell said. "I thought last year's team was a good team, but we ran into a tough North Shore team. We felt this year we'd have a good shot. But the schedule has to be right and the bracket has to be in your favor.
"Since the beginning, the guys have had a goal of getting past the second round. Now they've done that, but we're playing for more."
The victory over Memorial gave the Falcons a record 12 wins and also gave them the confidence they can stay with Katy when the two teams square off Saturday at 2 p.m. at Rice Stadium in the Class 5A Division II Region III final.
"How good is Katy? They've been on top of their game for 10 years," Aduddell said. "They're well-coached. They're disciplined. They play well on both sides of the ball. They have a good special teams game.
"But we think we match up well. Memorial is very similar in that it is strong, disciplined and the linemen get after you. So we think it helped playing Memorial in preparing for Katy. They may not run the same offense or defense, but they are similar. And we think we're ready for Katy because of that game."